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Israel-Hamas War; Russian-Ukraine Conflict; Picture-Perfect Splashdown; Kherson Residents Say They're Hunted By Russian Drones; Federal Reserve Meets Amid Talk Of Possible Recession; Nvidia Unveils New Details Of Next Generation A.I. Chips; MLB Fever Sweeps Japan With Shohei Ohtani Homecoming; British Photo Awards Show Surprising City Wildlife. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 19, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:24]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Donald Trump and the art of being played, coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: We had a great call. It lasted almost two hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And ended with the Russian president agreeing to a limited ceasefire in Ukraine, well short of US demands. War returns to Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translation): This is just the beginning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: With Israel shattering a fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas, killing hundreds in renewed strikes across the Palestinian territory. And 286 days later --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And splashdown. Crew 9 back on Earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Suni and Butch finally come home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: After shattering a 57-day long ceasefire in Gaza, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned the militant group Hamas this is just the beginning. For now, the renewed Israeli military offensive has been limited to airstrikes. But Netanyahu says the intensity will only increase, implying a ground incursion is possible if the last of the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza are not released.
The unexpected return to war in Gaza sparked massive protests in Tel Aviv. Tens of thousands demanding a return to the ceasefire agreement as well as the return of all hostages. The death toll has now passed 400 according to Palestinian officials in the past 24 hours, making it the deadliest day in Gaza since November 7, 2023.
Netanyahu claims Hamas refused to negotiate an extension of phase one of a three phase ceasefire deal, also rejected two US proposals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU (through translation): This is just the beginning. We will continue to fight to achieve all the goals of the war, the release of all our hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We have more details now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond. But a warning, some of the images in his report are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Israeli airstrikes once again pounding Gaza, marking the end of a two month ceasefire, and a return to the sights and sounds of war. Civilians rushing to the enclave's barely functioning hospital, carrying the wounded and the dead.
In just a few hours, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Hundreds more were wounded. It is the single deadliest day of the war since November 2023. And once again, children among the victims, some too stunned to speak, others silenced forever. Their small bodies motionless on the morgue floor.
Israel says it targeted Hamas commanders, officials and infrastructure, launching the strikes because of Hamas's refusal to release more hostages. Israel now threatening to widen these attacks. Hamas so far not firing back at Israel, insisting it has been committed to negotiating phase two of the ceasefire agreement, while accusing Israel of trying to impose new conditions.
In the daylight, the scale of the devastation becomes all too clear. Hazem al-Janad (ph) was preparing a pre-fast meal for her family when the missiles hit the school they were sheltering in east of Gaza City. Sixteen of her relatives were killed, the youngest just two years old.
I have no one left, she says. Sixteen people killed, why? They are all civilians.
At another hospital, a father opens a body bag to show the face of his daughter. This is an unjust world, he cries. The whole world is unjust. Here are the children. This is a little girl.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad acknowledge a number of their militants and officials were killed in the overnight strikes. But a doctor at one hospital in Gaza City told CNN the majority of cases she had seen were children.
Residents in Deir al Balah in Central Gaza said they had no prior warning of the strikes, which killed families as they were sleeping. We have been pulling the remains of children since this morning, this man says. Since 2:00 in the morning we have been collecting the remains of people from the streets. They are all civilians, children.
[01:05:00]
The Israeli military now ordering civilians in multiple neighborhoods close to the border to move west as the threat of a renewed Israeli ground offensive looms. Jeremy Diamon, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Live now to Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza, Sameer Sah with Medical Aid for Palestinians, a British based charity operating in Gaza, the West Bank as well as Lebanon. Thank you for being with us, sir.
Can you describe the past 24 hours and what it's been like for the people of Gaza?
SAMEER SAH, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS: Past 24 hours have been horrific. We woke up 2:00 in the morning yesterday, just after 2:00, when I actually thought the bomb had gone outside the guest house where I'm staying because it was so loud. But it must have been one of those 2,000 pound bombs which must have dropped literally a kilometer away, probably or half a kilometer away.
And it sounded like it's outside, so that's how loud it is. And so you can imagine the impact that must have had on people. The hospitals were absolutely overwhelmed. People being brought in donkey carts, horse carts, ambulances.
There is absolutely shock over here. People had already been suffering from war and then you had the blockade. Commodities have been becoming increasingly more and more expensive day by day.
I mean, just to give you an example, when I came into Gaza, potatoes were roughly $1.30 a kilogram and now it's around $15 a kilogram. So it's becoming unaffordable for people.
VAUSE: Why have so many women and children? Why so many women, children among the dead and the wounded after this latest offensive?
SAH: Well, I'm not an expert on ammunition, but I'm guessing that the bombs are so large that it -- basically, if you're targeting a person, it is also taking people around you for at least 100 meters or 50 meters. And so you're getting a lot of women and children as casualties and injuries. VAUSE: And you mentioned that this sort of came out of a -- almost as
a shock to so many in Gaza because there was a ceasefire agreement in place. There was a second phase which was meant to be negotiated. Those negotiations had stalled. But then suddenly this offensive by Israel seemed to almost come out of nowhere.
SAH: Yes, it did come out of nowhere. I mean, over here the situation is really, really difficult for people. You have 1.8 million people residing in shelters. And when I say shelters, these are not some of them. Most of them are not even proper tents. These are just plastic sheets or whatever people could find to put up a shelter.
Food is becoming excessively inaccessible. I mean, it's just difficult to find food in the market. And very expensive also. People don't have access to water, people don't have access to sanitation. You have over 22,500 people awaiting limb reconstruction surgery because there have been amputations, spinal cord injuries, there have been burns injuries.
So after suffering through all this, then they have to go through a blockade where it is completely, completely stopped from entering Gaza. And when people have started coping with that, you suddenly find that there's the war suddenly on when it was least expected.
VAUSE: And a lot of the injuries after this latest round of Israeli airstrikes are burned, as you say, amputations. And the medical supplies needed to treat those wounds just simply aren't available right now. And it looks to be that because of this Israeli blockade, which began two weeks ago, of humanitarian supplies, which is a violation of the ceasefire agreement in itself, those much needed medical supplies will not be available in Gaza anytime soon.
VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. And I remember the time I was here last, which was in January last year at the height of the bombings. And I remember there were a lot of amputations and procedures happening without even any kind of pain relief. So no anesthesia, no morphine, nothing.
And I think at the moment there are some supplies, but they're not sufficient. And it's not only the supplies, there's a shortage of medical personnel over here. There's a shortage of ambulances. A lot of the ambulances were destroyed.
Over 800 health care workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict started. So it's a shortage of equipment, it's a shortage of supplies. We have, for example, my organization is running the only chemotherapy center or, in fact, the only oncology center in the whole of Gaza. And even the chemotherapy drugs are not available.
So we have people who are undergoing treatment with alternative drugs, which means that basically somebody who could be cured will basically get some treatment to extend his or her life, and then will ultimately die because of lack of treatment. So it is a very difficult situation for everyone.
VAUSE: And it's about to get a whole lot worse by the sounds of things. Sameer Sah, thank you for joining us from Khan Yunis, and updating us on the situation there. We appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.
SAH: Thank you very much.
[01:10:06]
VAUSE: A much anticipated phone call between the US and Russian presidents has ended with an incremental move towards a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine. Despite demands from the White House as well as commitment from the Ukrainian president, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not agree to a 30-day total ceasefire, instead offering a temporary pause in attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, providing Ukraine agrees to do the same.
But even that one concession is not entirely clear, with the US President insisting the pause in attacks applies to energy and infrastructure in Ukraine. Still, President Trump remains optimistic about reaching a broader peace deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We had a great call, lasted almost two hours, talked about a lot of things. And toward getting it to peace, and we talked about other things also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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VAUSE: Over the past three years, especially in the lead up to winter, Russia has consistently targeted Ukraine's power grid, leaving millions without electricity during brutally cold weather. Recently, Ukraine has ramped up drone strikes on oil facilities deep inside Russian territory.
There was no discussion of Ukraine giving up territory during the Trump-Putin phone call, but a prisoner exchange is planned in the coming hours. And according to US Presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, negotiations with Russian officials to end the fighting in Ukraine will begin in earnest Sunday in Saudi Arabia.
As for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is yet to be briefed about the Trump Putin call and remains skeptical about Russia's desire for a total ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): We support all steps aimed at ending the war. But in order to support them, we need to understand what exactly we support. When President Trump has time, he is a busy man, but when he has time, he can call me anytime. He has my phone number.
We are ready to talk through further steps. With pleasure.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Meantime in Russia, the mere fact this call took place has been reason for celebration. For many, this is now a return to the old days when Moscow was considered a superpower, an equal partner to Washington. CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen reports now from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Breaking news on Kremlin control TV, the moment word came out the long awaited call between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had ended.
It lasted more than 2 hours and 28 minutes, the anchor says. State media immediately hailing the call as a win for Putin. We've been accustomed for many years to the fact that the west addresses Russia arrogantly and from a position of moral superiority, this guest says. And now, we see a completely different picture.
Both the US and Russia saying they want to work towards ending the Ukraine conflict, starting with an immediate 30 day halt to attacks on critical energy infrastructure by both the Russians and the Ukrainians. The Kremlin said Putin has agreed.
Vladimir Putin responded positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding order, the Kremlin readout says. But that's where the agreements seem to end. Putin making steep demands on his terms calling for an end of all western intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine, aid which Kyiv says has been vital to keeping its forces in the fight in the past years.
The Kremlin makes no secret of the fact their main goal is normalizing US-Russia relations and major sanctions relief. Even as Vladimir Putin, speaking at an economic forum in Moscow, cautioned that could take time even with a Russia friendly administration in Washington.
This is a mechanism of strategic pressure on our country, Putin says, and no matter how the situation develops, no matter what the system of international relations is, our competitors will always strive to restrain our country, weaken its economic and technological capabilities.
This comes as Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, who some have called the ideological brains behind Putin's invasion of Ukraine, is promoting his new book, "The Trump Revolution."
So there's a lot of people obviously in the west who believe and fear that president Trump is closer ideologically and politically to Vladimir Putin than he is to his western allies. What do you think?
ALEKSANDR DUGIN, RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHER: Yes, it's so. I agree. That is obvious. That is obvious. He is much more conservative. He is in favor of traditional values. He is in favor of the patriotism of the nation. And I define that as the great powers world order. Putin and Trump coincide in accepting this model.
TRUMP: So, Vladimir, thank you very much.
PLEITGEN: And both the Kremlin and the White House say they are in favor of fundamentally restoring US-Russia ties as fast as possible. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:15:10]
VAUSE: Joining us now from Arlington, Virginia is William Taylor, who served as US Ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009. Welcome back. It's good to speak to you, William.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Thank you, John. It's good to be here.
VAUSE: So in diplomacy, words matter, even the smallest words like and. So under this limited ceasefire agreement, it seems the Russians have agreed to pause attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. But the White House seems to believe that Russia has agreed to a pause on attacks on energy -- Ukraine's energy and infrastructure.
It's a very big difference, but does this confusion sort of reflect a conversation which was ultimately very favorable towards Russia, not so much towards Ukraine.
TAYLOR: So you're right about the difference between energy and infrastructure, or energy infrastructure. And of course, the Russians have been pounding the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the generation capacity, the transformers, all of the things that give Ukrainians the ability to heat in the winter and even bring water up to the top of apartment buildings. So this is really important that will stop. It's noticeable, it's stopping in the spring. And it was a grim winter.
But nonetheless, they will be welcome to have that infrastructure intact. But you're right, there is confusion about energy and infrastructure. Energy and infrastructure might suggest other kinds of infrastructure like waterworks, like maybe even hospitals, maybe police stations, these kind of things, maternity hospitals.
These are -- these might be considered infrastructure which the Russians might continue to bomb.
VAUSE: And according to the Kremlin readout of the call, Vladimir Putin made some very big demands before entering broader peace talks. One of those demands includes a complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv. But then according to the US President, this is what happened during the conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: No, he didn't -- we didn't talk about aid. Actually, we didn't talk about aid at all. We talked about a lot of things, but aid was never discussed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So again, there is confusion, there is inconsistency. And the White House did recently pause all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. So it seems this is not beyond the kind of maximalist demands being made by Putin, which under any normal circumstances would be a non-starter, wouldn't?
TAYLOR: Is a non-starter, John. It is a non-starter for the Ukrainians. We have to remember that these conversations today, and we're between two people, between the American president and the Russian president. There's another party to this conversation, obviously, and that's the Ukrainian President.
And the Ukrainian president has the ability to say no. The American president has the ability is indeed has stated that he would like to be a winner on this. He would like to come out ahead on this. He wants to be seen to have driven a good bargain for -- in the first instance, the United States security. But other security as well, including European and including Ukrainian.
VAUSE: Well, the Ukrainian president is hoping to receive more details about the conversation. That is, he says, when the US President has time to talk to him. But until then, he's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY (through translation): We are skeptical when it comes to trusting the Russians. There is no trust to Putin. That's why I am saying we need to understand how it will work technically, so that it will not depend on their desire only. That is it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So apart from the inconsistencies in the wording here, there are no details on how this limited ceasefire will be monitored or all in force. And if history is any judge, taking Putin at his word rarely ends well.
TAYLOR: It rarely goes well. And Ukrainians have a lot of experience with this. As you have reported, the discussions after their initial invasion in 2014 resulted in a couple of agreements called the Minsk agreements that were violated, and the ceasefires under the Minsk agreements were violated by some counts 17 times by the Russians.
So, yes, the Ukrainians understand that the Russians cannot be trusted to abide by a ceasefire. But you're right about the question about enforcing the ceasefire. And that's where the Europeans come in. Europeans, remarkably, are getting their act together, their military act together and have committed or sounds like they are moving towards committing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine to be sure that the Russians don't invade again. That's a big step by the Europeans and be welcomed by the Ukrainians.
VAUSE: Among those who've been critical of the phone call is Boris Johnson. He is a former conservative prime minister of Britain. He tweeted in part, what a surprise. Putin rejects an unconditional ceasefire. He isn't negotiating, he's laughing at us.
[01:20:06]
And one of the big criticisms and sort of general criticisms is that many believe the United States President is being played by Vladimir Putin. Is that fair? Is that a fair criticism here?
TAYLOR: It could be if the interpretation is as we've just described. However, it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be.
President Trump has leverage. President Trump can be sure that what he has agreed to with President Zelenskyy, that is a 30 day ceasefire across the board. He has the ability to push that hard. He has leverage over Putin by providing weapons to the Ukrainians. He has leverage over Putin by imposing more sanctions or enforcing the sanctions that are in place.
So it doesn't have to be played. President Putin has as is vulnerable.
VAUSE: It's a good point to finish on. So thank you very much for being with us, Ambassador Taylor there. We appreciate your time, sir.
TAYLOR: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Well, this just in to CNN, Turkish authorities have ordered the detention of Istanbul's mayor along with about 100 other people. That's according to prosecutors talking to state media.
The mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, is seen as a key political rival to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This comes just days before the main opposition party is scheduled to hold primary elections where Imamoglu was expected to be chosen as a presidential candidate. The next presidential vote scheduled for 2028, but early elections are seen as likely. More details on this developing story as soon as we get them.
In the meantime, we'll take a short break. In a moment, Butch and Suni are finally home. The very latest on a picture perfect splashdown and a long awaited return to Earth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:26:14]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And splashdown. Crew 9 back on Earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: After months on board the International Space Station, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally back on Earth, splashing down Tuesday off the coast of Florida. The original eight day long visit to the ISS finally over 286 days later. here's CNN's Ed Lavandera with details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore made a dramatic splashdown in the Gulf waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle Tuesday evening, complete with a dolphin show swimming around the capsule as the crews began the process of lifting that capsule out of the ocean waters.
This capped the end of a long saga for these NASA astronauts who had launched into outer space back in June of last summer, nine months ago on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. But because of technical problems with that spacecraft, NASA deemed that it was not safe enough for those astronauts to use to return. That kicked off a lot of planning and preparation for NASA officials to find another way to get those astronauts back home.
Those astronauts are now back on Earth. They are going through the process of returning and coming back here to the Johnson Space Center in Houston where they will reunite with their family members. And they will also begin the more intensive process of re-acclimating to the Earth's gravity, going through a series of medical tests, being put in pools to regain strength and that sort of thing. That's a process that could take days, if not weeks.
So that is the primary focus that NASA officials are focused on right now for these astronauts as they come back here to Houston. But this is also a crew that has been caught up in a saga, a political saga, as President Trump and Elon Musk have claimed that these astronauts were stranded and abandoned in outer space by the Biden administration.
The two astronauts have denied that this is the case. NASA officials were asked about this Tuesday after the safe landing of these astronauts in their splashdown, they kind of sidestep the question, saying that since the very beginning of all of this, they have really focused on trying to find the safest way possible to get these astronauts back home safely. Ed Lavandera, CNN at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead on CNN, hunted by Russian drones and then mocked on Russian social media, Ukrainian civilians are being terrorized in Kherson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:34:01]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The White House and the Kremlin both praising an agreement to pause some attacks in the war in Ukraine. But details of the phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are open to interpretation. Moscow says it will halt its strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Washington says the pause covers energy and infrastructure targets.
Special envoy to Vladimir Putin posted on social media, "Under the leadership of President Putin and President Trump, the world has become a much safer place today. Historic. Epic."
Well, the Ukrainian port city of Kherson was liberated from Russian occupation two years ago. The city not only remains almost under constant attack, but now residents say they're being hunted and terrorized by armed Russian drones, which also record those attacks to post mocking images on social media.
[01:34:50]
VAUSE: CNN's Clarissa Ward reports now from Kherson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the streets of Kherson, anyone is fair game. Every day, swarms of Russian drones glide across the river on a deadly hunt that locals have dubbed a human safari. They target the old and the young, men and women. Flying low, they taunt and terrorize their prey.
A man crosses himself, preparing for the worst before the drone buzzes on. Others are not so fortunate. Russian social media is awash with these videos, complete with heavy metal soundtracks and gloating comments.
But to the people of Kherson, this is anything but a game.
So this is the central square here in Kherson. And you can see it is eerily deserted. Just a few people out on the streets. It was raining and cloudy earlier, which means sometimes more people go out because that's not good weather for flying drones.
But now again, just a handful of people, all the stores you can see over there are basically boarded up.
The one supermarket open is heavily fortified. For Kherson residents, the simplest daily errand is the riskiest part of the day. Some can't even get to the supermarket.
We drive to meet volunteers from the local administration.
So we're heading now to the eastern outskirts of the city. This is one of the most dangerous parts of the city, and they're getting ready to distribute some aid. They have to do it quickly and efficiently to ensure that they don't get seen by the drones.
The area is very exposed. We're told to hide our body armor under our coats.
Ok, so we've just arrived. At this point, you can see they're starting to distribute the aid.
Beleaguered residents emerge from their homes where they live largely stranded. They grab supplies for neighbors who need help. They've lived through Russian occupation, then liberation, now this.
Yna and her granddaughter tell me that life is so hard here. But there's no time to be afraid. She goes to collect her box of supplies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WARD: So I told her that she's very strong. And she said, everybody is very strong. We have to be.
A man sets about repairing the roof of his home, undeterred by the near certain prospect of future attacks.
So they're saying that they have heard from the army that Russian drones have taken off from the other side of the river. So they're telling us to move on now.
We speed through the roads back to a safer part of the city. Nowhere in Kherson is really safe.
The local hospital is surrounded by sandbag barriers. He says, they hit here quite a lot. That's why there's all these protections outside.
Across Kherson region, there were more than 2,000 drone launches just last week. The aftermath of that staggering statistic, clearly seen here.
Elena Sigereba (ph) says she and her friend were walking home from work when they were hunted.
We were two women, all made up without hats, carrying flowers and wearing white jackets, she tells us. They could see we were women, not soldiers. It's just horror.
In another room, 19-year-old Boris is recovering from lung and leg injuries after the minibus he was traveling in was hit by a drone. Two people were killed and eight wounded.
"They are Russians. What can I say," he tells us. "They're animals. Nothing else to say."
Pretty much every room in this entire ward has someone in it who has been injured or maimed by a drone. The doctor says they have 28 drone injuries that they are treating at the moment.
This is just one of three hospitals that serve this city. And he said the number has just been going up and up since last August.
"We steadily received 90 to 100 patients injured in drone attacks a month," he says. "And there were 20 attacks in one week on the hospital's generators."
Russia has frequently targeted Ukraine's power infrastructure in this war. Rarely has it so flagrantly pursued civilians.
"We can call it a hunt for civilians," Mayor Roman Goroshko (ph) explains. "The Russians send fresh drone units to Kherson region, and they trained by attacking ordinary people with drones, then send these units to Donetsk and Lugansk. Then they send another new unit here to continue the human safari."
[01:39:49]
WARD: What can you really do to protect people here?
"There's no panacea to fully cover the city because the Russians are developing their technologies," he says. "There's no jammer that can fully close the sky."
And so the people of Kherson suffer on. As outside powers bargain for an end to this war, nowhere are Russia's intentions felt so intimately.
Clarissa Ward, CNN -- Kherson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN has reached out to Russia for comment on the allegations they are intentionally targeting civilians in Kherson and we've not received a response.
Big announcement from Nvidia. The tech company says its new chips will allow apps to think more like humans. What we're learning about this next generation of A.I. chips in a moment.
[01:40:38]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears as though something has happened in the motorcade route. Something, I repeat, has happened in the motorcade route.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes. Back then. Ok.
The Trump administration has released thousands of records on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Many files had already been made public, but the White House says those released Tuesday were previously classified and redacted."
Researchers will need a lot of time to go through all of these documents, but sources tell CNN there's no indication anything will change what is the current conclusion that a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, was responsible for the assassination of JFK.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is set to resume its two-day monetary policy meeting in the coming hours, as forecasts of a possible recession appear to be picking up steam. Still hours away from the opening bell on Wall Street but here's where
U.S. futures stand right now. Up across the board, it seems, green there everywhere.
Recent surveys, though, show businesses are delaying investments and consumer spending is weakening.
The Federal Reserve expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged, at least until more is known about the effects of President Trump's tariff policies.
Fed chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak when the policy meeting wraps up later Wednesday.
Nvidia is revealing new details about its next artificial intelligence chip platform and its latest A.I. chips. The tech company says the platform will help apps reason and act on a user's behalf, two capabilities that would take A.I. further towards real life.
CNN's Anna Stewart reports now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Earlier this year, Nvidia was the most valuable company in the world amidst an A.I. boom. Its chips have been pivotal to data centers fueling the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google.
Nvidia's share price though lost steam in recent weeks, sparked in part by the release of DeepSeek's latest reasoning model R-1, created in China at a fraction of the cost of comparable models.
And really, it raised questions as to whether expensive hardware like Nvidia's is really necessary.
Well, in Nvidia's annual conference, the CEO was keen to emphasize that the next waves of A.I. Like agentic or reasoning A.I. and the A.I. To power robots will open new market opportunities for the company.
JENSEN HUANG, CEO, NVIDIA: The computation requirement, the scaling law of A.I. is more resilient and in fact, hyper accelerated. The amount of computation we need at this point as a result of agentic A.I., as a result of reasoning is easily 100 times more than we thought we needed this time last year.
STEWART: Jensen Huang also announced the Blackwell Ultra for the second half of this year. It's an upgraded version of Nvidia's existing A.I. chip, which has been in really high demand.
And plenty more to come. He teased ahead to even more advanced chips in the pipeline. Next year, a chip called Vera Rubin, named after the astronomer, followed by the Ultra Rubin for 2027. Plenty for investors to mull over.
Anna Stewart, CNN -- London. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to take control of the Panama canal is facing resistance from China. Officials in Beijing, as well as Hong Kong, are speaking out against the deal, where Hong Kong based firm CK Hutchison would sell ports in the Panama Canal to a group led by a U.S. firm, Blackrock, leading to doubts that the nearly $23 billion deal will actually go through. The uncertainty has sent shares of CK Hutchison down, closing nearly 6 percent lower.
The FBI, investigating an attack on Tesla cars as a possible act of terrorism. Surveillance video from a repair facility in Las Vegas shows a person dressed in black shooting at the vehicles. Two other cars were set on fire with Molotov cocktails. The word "resist" was spray painted on the front doors of the business.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes his company is being targeted because of his role in slashing the size of the federal government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA: Tesla is a peaceful company. We've never done anything harmful. I've never done anything harmful. I've only done productive things.
So I think we just have a deranged -- there's some kind of mental illness thing going on here because this doesn't make any sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Las Vegas authorities described the attack as targeted, and it's just the latest in a wave of attacks on Tesla showrooms, charging stations and Tesla vehicles in recent weeks.
[01:49:52]
VAUSE: Still ahead on CNN, a radical reform to a centuries old tradition is causing uproar by just a few dozen in Mexico City. How a new law will change bullfighting. That's next.
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VAUSE: Another step towards an outright ban on bullfighting in Mexico. Mexico City passing new laws prohibiting violence, injuries and death of bulls, as well as the use of sharp objects by matadors.
The bill passed on Tuesday 61 votes in favor, one against. While animal rights advocates hailed the decision, fans of this century old tradition are far from happy. Dozens -- Dozens of protesters clashed with local police outside a local Congress where the bill was passed. It will go into effect in about seven months from now.
Baseball fans in Japan are welcoming a national hero. Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in Tokyo for a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs, kicking off the 2025 Major League season.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery has our report.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The city of Tokyo painted in Dodgers blue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was born like this.
MONTGOMERY: As Japan's homegrown hero Shohei Ohtani is back at home plate.
CROWD: Let's go Dodgers. Let's go Dodgers.
MONTGOMERY: From babies and grandparents to moms with a dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ohtani is very handsome, isn't he? But he got married. That was unfortunate.
MONTGOEMRY: Everyone showed up for the old ball game. Even Ohtani's pet dog -- well, sort of.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my. I'd be delighted if Ohtani ever sees me. But I've heard some people say it doesn't look that cute. So I'm sort of regretting not making the outfit a little cuter. But I did what I could do.
MONTGOMERY: A photo with Ohtani might be hard, but his lookalikes gladly step in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he doesn't do anything bad, everyone says Ohtani is like a god. To keep that image, I try to be careful about my behavior as much as possible.
MONTGOMERY: But the Chicago Cubs got their fair share of love, too.
CROWD: Go, baby. Let's go.
MONTGOMERY: For weeks, Japan's been gearing up for Ohtani's return, with Dodgers exhibits popping up across town and crowds packing Tokyo's airport, hoping for even a glimpse of the star in Dodgers blue and white.
And the financial impact of Japan's favorite baseball star is undeniable.
DAVID LEINER, TOPPS PRESIDENT TRADING CARDS: It's on a whole another level so I would venture to say this is the most successful event Major League Baseball has had beyond the all-star games.
We did over 850 million in revenue last year for our baseball business. That is up substantially versus our 2023 business.
MONTGOMERY: For Major League Baseball, this Tokyo series is another step in gaining global fans.
And for Japan, it's a rare chance to see their best battle America's finest and to say "Welcome home, Ohtani".
Hanako Montgomery, CNN -- Tokyo.
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VAUSE: For more than 200 years, the Statue of Liberty a gift from France to the United States, has stood as a symbol of freedom, hope and opportunity, a beacon of liberty and democracy.
But now a French politician wants Lady Liberty back because, in his words, some Americans have switched to the side of tyrants.
The White House hit back, saying France should be more grateful to the United States because, quote, "The French are not speaking German right now".
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VAUSE: French politician Raphael Glucksmann replied to that, saying he was grateful for the American heroes who fought in World War II, adding, "While the statue is yours, what it embodies belongs to everyone. And if the free world no longer interests your government, then we'll take up the torch here in Europe."
Well, after 13,000 submissions, the winners have been announced in this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards. The competition in the 13th year, spotlights Britain's nature.
Here's CNN's Lynda Kinkade with some of the winning images.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Photographer Simon Withyman says he spent three years tracking this red fox around Bristol, England. When he spotted her perfectly framed between the railings on this pathway. He knew the shot was a winner.
It sure was. It earned him the grand prize of more than $4,500 at the British Wildlife Photography Awards.
Among the other winners was this photo of a red grouse looking positively shocked while coming in for a landing in a field of heather.
And this image of a reindeer living up to its rainy (ph) name as it roars at the heavens.
The contest also includes underwater photography. The award for best coast to marine photo went to this shot of a blue shark searching for some squid or small fish to feed upon.
There's even a young photographer contest. This early morning shot of a bird called curlew took the grand prize. It was shot by nine-year- old Jamie Smart, whose parents had driven her four hours to get the image. And we couldn't leave you without sharing this winner in the 15 to 17-
year-old contest, Ben Lucas set up a GoPro in a bag of French fries to capture these pigeons doing what they do best.
I'm Lynda Kinkade, CNN.
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VAUSE: A sea creature once declared the world's ugliest animal has had an underwater Cinderella story.
The blobfish has now been voted New Zealand's fish of the year. Yay, blobfish. The competition is meant to raise awareness of the country's marine life, as well as its fragile ecosystem.
The gelatinous creature can grow up to 30 centimeters long or about a foot long. It looks like a big, blobby tadpole with big nose and beady eyes. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
And speaking of that, CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.
See you right back here tomorrow.
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